It Should Have Been Her From The Start
by Epona's Chosen
Summary: Pansy's been in love with Harry since Hogwarts. He doesn't know this, he's engaged to Ginny Weasely. But apparently Ginny doesn't want to marry Harry and takes advantage of a drunken Theo Nott, what does Pansy have to say about that? HP/PP, DM/HG, BZ/LL.


**Well, here's my second Harry/Pansy oneshot :) This isn't very good since it's literally all off the top of my head - I started with the second sentence which randomly popped into my head :) I hope you like it, this isn't beta'd so excuse mistakes (I don't like she likes Harry/Pansy and just put *sigh* when I asked, so y'know, thought I shouldn't push it when I'll want my multi-chapter beta'd soon).**

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It hurt. It hurt more than anything to be in love with someone who hated you. It didn't help that Pansy Parkinson seemed incapable of being nice to him either. She'd fallen in love with Harry Potter in fourth year. She hadn't even realised until she'd oozed jealously at the Yule Ball at him turning up with Patil.

Thankfully, Draco hadn't noticed. He'd seemed completely besotted with Hermione Granger. In fact, she wasn't sure if Draco had looked at anyone but Hermione that night. Then he hadn't shut up about her to Blaise and Pansy for weeks. That is until Blaise told him to just ask her out and Draco had paled and retreated to his room and never mentioned Hermione again. Draco had been too cowardly to even consider asking her out on a date – not that she'd have said yes.

Now, Hogwarts was over, Voldemort was really dead and everyone was recovering, albeit slowly. Death Eaters were being shoved into Azkaban left, right and centre and Pansy felt immensely grateful now that her parents' hadn't been involved. Draco's mother, Narcissa, had been excused from serving time after Harry stood up and told the Ministry that without her, he'd be dead. Draco had thanked Harry for that. Then they had become friends. Both became Aurors and worked so well as a team it was hard to believe they'd ever been enemies.

Then Draco had got lucky. Ron and Hermione's relationship had started falling apart and when the roof finally caved in on that, Draco had been there to pick up the pieces of Hermione's shattered heart and put them back together. They were also getting married next month. It was easy to tell how smoothly their relationship had gone.

Blaise had potentially been the most surprising. Nobody had expected Luna to wander into the office and proclaim loudly in her serene voice that Blaise had proposed to her last night. She was oblivious to the shock and as Blaise had turned up for work, she'd skipped into his arms and given him a kiss which he returned enthusiastically. Luna Zabini was pregnant with their first child and Blaise glowed with happiness every time someone mentioned his wife or unborn child.

Pansy hadn't been so lucky. Her love for The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice hadn't faded, if anything it was stronger. She'd watched him fall further for Ginny Weasely, date her and had even been at their engagement party. Theo had stuck by her all night; she knew he was in the same boat although his affections lingered on the fiery redhead.

That was what Pansy had walked in on when she came to see Draco.

"I can't _believe _it. I don't blame Theo, he was drunk, but _she was sober._" Harry growled. His eyes were wet with tears.

"What happened?" Pansy dared ask. They both jumped and two sets of eyes bore so hard into the Pansy that she almost turned and ran.

"Ginny cheated on him with a drunken Theo," Draco said simply and Pansy gulped. She was meant to be happy wasn't she? This was what she wanted. A chance to have Harry Potter, but if anything, she felt like someone had ripped her heart out. She wanted him to be happy, not heartbroken. She felt angry at Ginny. How _dare_ she hurt Harry? How could she wreck the thing Pansy desired so much for herself? How in Merlin could Ginny have thrown him away so easily?

"In our bed," Harry added, his anger turning to totally despair and anguish. Anger flared up in Pansy.

"She's such a bitch," she snarled and turned, storming out the office. Draco's eyes widened in surprise but Harry almost fell off his chair in shock.

"W... What's she doing?" He managed to ask after a few seconds.

"I think she's going to hex your fiancée," Draco mused, slightly amused.

"Ex-fiancée," Harry corrected. "She gave me the ring back and I chucked it out the window of the Knight bus."

"Oh, well, Pansy's remarkably skilled with hexes," Draco commented. "Ginny will get a hell of a lot more than she bargained for."

"But why is Pansy doing it? I mean, she's never tried to become anything more than a friend of a friend." Harry said, staring at where Pansy had been stood.

"You're an idiot, Potter," Draco said, rolling his eyes as he returned to his desk.

"What?" Harry asked, totally baffled.

"Pansy's in love with you," Draco said, nonchalantly. "Has been since fourth year I believe, but I was slightly distracted by Hermione then."

Harry simply stared at Draco who started to look a little uncomfortable after a few minutes. "Harry?" He asked, tentatively.

"But she hated me." Harry stated.

Draco rolled his eyes. "She acted like she hated you."

"She wanted to give me up to Voldemort."

"And then she sobbed about it in her room for hours. Nothing we did would calm her down, she just kept mumbling about you hating her – and then threw a vase at us, we decided to leave her alone for a while then."

"So that's why she's kept her distance? She thinks I hate her?" Harry asked.

"No, you idiot, she could see you were happy with Ginny and was scared she'd slip up if she became friends and make everything awkward between you and Ginny." Draco replied.

"Who else knows?" Harry asked.

"Well, only Blaise and I until I told you," Draco said. "But I think Hermione suspects it. She saw Pansy leave almost in tears at your engagement party."

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, YOU PUG!" Screeched Ginny from near Harry and Draco's office and Harry seemed to snap out of whatever daze he'd been in.

"Oh please, I'll talk to you however I bloody well want too, you're not royalty." Pansy snarky tone shot back at Ginny.

"I'm better than you," Ginny said, fiercely. Draco stood up, moving towards the door. He'd be fighting for Pansy, after all, the girl was practically his sister.

Pansy snorted. "I'm twice the woman you are." And she was right. Pansy was most certainly a woman, despite all the claims of her being a slut and she acted like one – mostly. "And I'm capable of sticking with one man – a trait most men like."

Ginny huffed. "I didn't want to marry Harry, it's not my fault."

Pansy gave her an odd look. "You could have, you know, told him with _words_ instead of actions."

"How would you know? You're just a whore."

Red light flashed across the hall and Ginny dropped to the ground, unconscious. Pansy looked startled and peered around. Draco was stunned too and he turned to look over his shoulder and where Harry's wand continued to point in Ginny's direction.

"Potter?" Draco asked, uncertainly. "Did you just stun Ginny?"

Harry lowered his wand, looking slightly surprised at himself. "I... think so."

Hermione came striding down the hall and Draco's eyes lit up at just the sight of her. "Pansy!" She scolded. "You shouldn't stun people..."

"It wasn't Pansy," Harry cut in quickly. "It was me."

Hermione's jaw almost dropped in shock. "Oh... Sorry Pansy," she said and gave her an apologetic look.

Pansy nodded. "It's fine, Hermione, I'd have thought it was me too."

"Can I ask why, Harry?" Hermione asked, walking over and Draco's hand caught hers, causing her to flash him a bright smile.

"She... called Pansy a whore," Harry admitted. "She isn't."

Pansy blushed slightly, ducking her head so nobody would notice. Hermione frowned. "Oh, she does deserve it a little, I mean, she did cheat on you with Theo... just be careful with such rash actions."

"Oh please, if Harry hadn't done it, I would have. Pansy's not a whore," Draco said, ignoring the stern look his fiancée gave him.

Pansy bit her lip and gave Harry a slight smile of thanks. He returned it and she felt herself blush again. "Pansy, can I talk to you?" He asked, ignoring the warning look Draco gave him. Pansy nodded and he gestured for her to follow him into his office.

Pansy did so and closed the door behind her. Draco tried to listen at the door but was dragged away by Hermione, who'd made Ginny hover after her.

Pansy looked at Harry nervously. "So?"

"Is it true?" Harry blurted. "That you love me."

Pansy blushed furiously and she sunk down into a chair, her face buried in her hands. Harry suddenly looked embarrassed. "Sorry... I was meant to ask more gently." He said and he knelt down in front of her.

Pansy didn't look at him but nodded slightly. "It's true," she whispered. Harry took her hands in his hand, tugging them from her face. She was crying, silent tears streaming down her face. He dropped one of her hand to wipe her tears carefully.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he mumbled. Pansy gave a small, shaky laugh.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It just hurts," her voice cracked slightly as she spoke. "But I'm kinda glad you know - I've hidden it for so long."

Harry nodded and he pulled Pansy into a hug which left them half sitting and half kneeling on the floor. She didn't hug him back straight away but as sobs began to rack her body, she found herself clinging to him.

"Why are you so sad?" Harry asked, not letting go of her.

"Because I think my heart just broke." Pansy said, her face buried in his shoulder. "You're being so nice, but it's hurting to be this close to you when you're never going to love me back."

Harry sighed and ran his fingers comfortingly through her hair. "Who says I won't?" He murmured. "Okay, so I'm not in love with you at the moment, but I might."

"What?" Pansy said, pulling back to look at his face. Harry cupped her face in her hands, thinking she still looked beautiful.

"Let me take you out to dinner tomorrow," Harry said. "I want to get to know you better, Pansy."

The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. "You want too..."

Harry nodded. "I think I want to spend a lot of my future getting to know you."

"But... It's me. Why would you want to spend your future with me?" Pansy asked, stunned.

"It's your choice, Pans," he said. "I happen to think you're a beautiful, smart woman that any man would love to spend time with, I also want to make sure I'm your only man."

Pansy blushed furiously. "Really?"

Harry leaned over and pressed a fast kiss to her lips. "Is that real enough for you?"

She giggled slightly and nodded. "I'd love to go for dinner with you."

Harry smiled and hugged her. "I wish I'd known how you felt back at Hogwarts, we could have had a lot more time together."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

"I always had a little crush on you," Harry murmured. "By the way, I never got to tell you how stunning you looked at the Yule Ball in fourth year."

Pansy blushed again. "You looked rather striking as well," she said. "It was when I realised I loved you."

Harry smiled slightly. "If only you'd said something."

Pansy pulled back and rolled her eyes. "Yes, because the next morning I was going to go up to the Gryffindor table and say, 'hey Potter, I'm in love with you.'"

Harry chuckled. "Good point," he said. "That wouldn't have gone down well."

"It's not going to go down well now; you saw how stressful it was for Draco and Hermione." She said and he held her close.

"It'll be fine," he murmured and stood up, lifting Pansy up as well. "So I shall pick you up from your house tomorrow night at seven?"

Pansy nodded. "Yes," she said and grinned like a teenager. "I can't wait."

"Honestly, neither can I," he replied.

"Are you sure? It's not too soon after Ginny?" Pansy asked.

Harry shook his head. "If I'm truthful, things haven't been too well with Ginny for a while. I just figured she'd talk to me instead." He said and she nodded in understanding.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Harry," she said and leant up, kissing his cheek.

"Uh-huh," he answered and watched as she walked out of his office with a slight spring in her step.

He was definitely an idiot not to realise how much Pansy could mean to him sooner. He wished he'd noticed how much he meant to her. He wished he'd noticed that it should have been her from the start. Because it should have.

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**I hate Ginny bashing, I love Ginny but you can't have Harry/Pansy without something happening to Ginny... **

**So, you like? I hope there aren't many errors, I did read it through but I can _never_ decide which 'to/too' it is half the time lol**

**~ Rhiannon :)**


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